so do you think,

[fflo]

when people say someone will be in their prayers, that they (generally, more often than not, almost always) really have regular prayers in which they remember that person or situation or w/e?

i did hear somewhere recently that some high percentage of americans, like 80+%, pray. many more than consider themselves religious.

i'm thinking maybe it's not so much a figure of speech. but i really don't know.

if it's not all that different from somebody or some situation being in your thoughts, i don't find that hard to imagine. it's that concerted praying thing. i did have bedtime prayers in my early childhood, and i think they had people in them. i know church bulletins have suggestions for people to put in yours.

when i heard that thing about americans and prayers, i also wondered how many of us pray for something to come out a certain way, or to get something. like, acquire. that seems pretty american. and that seems pretty cynical, of me, to go right there.

last coupla days people have been praying for my brother, who it looks like isn't as seriously sick as it looked like he might be. that is, he's pretty sick, but not with a dire prognosis. should get better.

Comments

[wednes.livejournal.com]

That's a tough one. I'm always a little bit squicked when people (H's mom, for example) tell me they'll pray for me. It conjures images of people kneeling by a bed, hands pressed together, telling their god to relieve me of whatever trait they think I shouldn't have. I guess because when some people say "I'll pray for you" they mean something more akin to "I'm gonna tell god on you, and hopefully you'll change in the ways I think god wants you to."
This obviously differs from the prayers people give to help someone do well in something or recover from something. Those are more like beseechings as far as I'm concerned. Asking for something is not the same as giving reverence to a deity.

I've never seen H praying that I am aware of. I don't think I know any Christians who have a schedule for prayer. Some have even told me that scheduled prayer is "more of a Muslim thing," which I suppose makes sense. My Uncle Vic follows Krishna Consciousness, and he says that the chanting they do brings the actual presence of god (or God, as it were) to their lips. I find that kinda neat, even though I'm not one for the chanting. I'm more a fan of that red dot on the forehead that becomes a portal to let in all the joy, love and divinity in the world right into your body. If I had one of those, no one would need to pray for me at all...I hope.

[paperkingdoms]

My mom means it in a time-set-aside way, and has friends who do, too.

There was a time when I meant that, too, and it's why I don't say it now.

Prayer is a tricky thing for me now, though I still do it on occasion.

[disclaimerwill.livejournal.com]

I tend to think that when someone compassionately says you'll be in her prayers, that's a person who does regularly pray. Otherwise I think people would say, "You'll be in my thoughts," or something like that, wouldn't they?

Of course, as Wednes points out above, there's a big difference between saying, "You'll be in my prayers," in a sympathetic sense, and "I'm going to pray for you," which is more like threatening to tattle. I suspect there's less follow-through on the latter.

Thanks in part to The Prayer of Jabez, I also tend to think that a good chunk of American prayer is of the "Tell Santa what you want for Christmas" variety. There was a very strange moment on this past season of Survivor where the two "tribes" were engaged in a pick-up-sticks-style challenge, and members of each tribe were talking about how their side was sure to win because they had just prayed and commanded God to deliver them a victory. No one seemed to acknowledge the fact that God couldn't very well give both sides what they wanted--let alone that God most likely has far greater matters to attend to. But then, they're reality show contestants, which demographic historically has a bartender-to-theologian ratio of approximately 1,000:0.

[shmuel.livejournal.com]

My assumption is that if someone says you'll be "in their prayers" that they're being literal. Those who don't pray go with "in their thoughts."